


encore

by thunderylee



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Canon Universe, M/M, Romance, this still makes me sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-31 09:32:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12129561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Minseok only misses Lu Han when he gets stressed.





	encore

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck.

Minseok only misses Lu Han when he gets stressed. Graduate school is no joke. Whenever he gets frustrated with the impossible amount of reading or his classmates bickering on the discussion board, the only thing he wants is a nice hard fuck with someone who knows him inside and out—literally.

“You know there’s still eight of us, right?” Jongdae points out. “There’s no shortage of dick around here.”

“Yeah, but it’s not _his_ dick,” Minseok says dreamily, heaving the sigh of a sexually frustrated twenty-five-year-old man before cutting his eyes back to his younger groupmate. “Besides, are you offering?”

“ _No_ ,” Jongdae hisses. “Go to Baekhyun if you want that.”

“Sloppy six-hundreths isn’t my style.” Minseok gives Jongdae a knowing look and Jongdae nods in agreement. “It’s not the same, anyway. There’s just something about Chinese dick…”

Yixing chooses that minute to walk into the room, blinks at Minseok, and stares helplessly at Jongdae.

“Lu Han,” Jongdae supplies, and Yixing nods in understanding.

“The heart wants what the heart wants,” Minseok tries to explain. “Or some other body part.”

“So go to Beijing and ambush him,” Jongdae suggests. “It can’t be that hard to find him. He’s more obvious about where he is on social media than my parents.”

“What would I even say?” Minseok asks. “‘Hey Lu Han, how’ve you been, I really miss your dick’.”

“I’d kill for someone to say they missed my dick,” Baekhyun announces as EXO-K joins them. “Also, stop pining over the traitor. Yixing is right here if you want some Grade-A Chinese beef.”

“Grade A?” Jongdae questions, eyeing Yixing who just shrugs nonchalantly.

“ _Not the same_ ,” Minseok grumbles. “You could all gang-bang me right now and it still won’t satisfy the craving I have just for him.”

“That’s disturbing and romantic at the same time,” Sehun comments. Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose at the thought of group sex, Jongin smiles like the sap he is, and Chanyeol looks like he’s working out the logistics of that in his mind.

Naturally, Baekhyun’s face lights up at the challenge.

Minseok lets it go, because there are still some hard feelings about Lu Han that don’t involve the kind in his pants. Maybe he will take Jongdae’s advice after all. He doesn’t have time for an impromptu trip, even if they already have concert dates in Hong Kong, but it’s getting to the point where he’ll fail out of school if he doesn’t do _something_.

He just hopes Lu Han misses him too.

*

China is a big country, but Minseok knows the shortcuts. His first shortcut is Yixing, who takes pity on him and draws him a map from Point A to Point B complete with transit modes and times.

He refuses to label Point B as Point _D_ in honor of Minseok’s actual destination, but it’s the thought that counts.

Minseok has exactly fourteen hours. Jongdae covers for him when he sneaks out of rehearsal early, feigning a stomachache. Karma gets him when he has to run through the airport so fast he nearly throws up, his lunch never quite settling after being scarfed down in five minutes. Adrenaline hits about halfway to Beijing and the remainder commute is excruciating; he’s finally going to see Lu Han again after all this time.

Once he’s faced with the studio from Lu Han’s Instagram posts, Minseok realizes this is as far as he’d gotten in his planning. He has his color-coded map gripped tightly in his hand, but no idea what to do from here. This isn’t like him; he blames higher education. He ran on an organized schedule until university ruined him. Now he just runs on coffee and instinct.

He has two options. He can either sneak in and likely get caught by security, or he can walk in as himself and have seven hundred pictures online before he’s even all the way in the door. Either way he’s getting in trouble with SM, but he’ll worry about that later. They can’t punish him too badly—he’s the good one.

He opts for option two and checks his reflection in his cameraphone to make sure he looks good for the fan shots. History has taught him that one can usually get what they want if they are confident and direct, so he strolls right through the entrance like he owns the place and approaches the reception desk. The man behind it is wearing a headset and seems completely disinterested in Minseok, which works to his advantage.

Originally he was going to come right out and ask to see Lu Han, but a stroke of brilliance has him putting on a pitiful face. “Public bathroom?” he asks in his broken Mandarin. “Emergency.”

“Down the hall to the left,” the man answers mechanically without looking up from his switchboard.

Minseok frowns as he follows directions. That was too easy. He passes the bathroom and keeps going, following the hallway down past door after door with swipe entry locks on them. A couple people walk past him, but he doesn’t do anything to call their attention and they don’t give it. He supposes he looks just like anyone else who would be recording here, except he doesn’t have a badge.

There’s a directory at the end of the hallway, but Minseok can’t read anything on it. He’s about to send Yixing a picture and a plea to translate when he’s grabbed by the collar and pulled into a dark closet, his yelp caught in his throat as he catches a whiff of the scent he hasn’t smelled in over a year.

“What are you doing here? You’re gonna get us both in trouble!”

“Lu Han,” Minseok gasps, spinning around and clutching the face before him with both hands, eyes wide with a desperate need to see in the dark. “It’s really you.”

“Of course it’s me!” Lu Han hisses, eyes flashing the instant they become visible. “Security notified me the minute you showed up on the outside cameras. I told them to let you in. You think anyone can just walk in here?”

“I was gonna say,” Minseok says with a laugh. “I’m relieved you won’t get mauled by crazy fangirls.”

“I’m not so sure you’re any better right now,” Lu Han tells him. His tone is stern, but his Korean is so unpracticed and adorable that Minseok just smiles at him. “What do you want?”

“You,” Minseok answers, watching Lu Han’s tense features soften at the admission. “I miss you.”

“I…” Lu Han stares at him, looking as helpless as he did the first time they admitted their feelings and didn’t know what to do about it. “I miss you too.”

“I have nine hours before I have to be back in Hong Kong,” Minseok says, his voice rushed. He drops his hands to rest on Lu Han’s shoulders, rubbing his thumbs on the bare collarbone. Lu Han’s definitely dressed for a music video, low-cut top and tight jeans with a fedora tipped to the side of his head. And eyeliner. Lots of eyeliner. “Looking like that, all I need is ten minutes with you.”

Lu Han gives him a knowing smile. “Baozi, you can’t even get out of your clothes in ten minutes.”

As soon as Minseok hears his old nickname, he knows he’s won. “What can I say? I was trained to make it last.”

“I live about a half hour away,” Lu Han says. He reaches into Minseok’s pocket for his phone, lingering long enough to be deliberate without moving his eyes from Minseok’s. “I’ll put the address in your GPS. Take a cab and meet me there.”

“How do I know you’ll show up?” Minseok asks, suddenly terrified that Lu Han’s just humoring him to get him out of the building. “I didn’t come all the way here to be made a fool of…again.”

That was low, but Lu Han just inhales and reaches into his own pocket. He emerges with a ring of keys and hands them to Minseok along with Minseok’s phone. “This is my only set, so leave the front door unlocked.”

Minseok stares at the keys and then looks up at the man he’d spent so many nights wrapped around, pressed so closely that he didn’t know where one ended and the other began. “You still trust me.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I thought they might have sent you to sabotage me,” Lu Han admits, and Minseok’s heart hurts so much at the thought that it’s physically painful. “Then I saw your face just now and there’s no way you could fake the heat in your eyes. You were always a horrible liar.”

“It’s my best quality,” Minseok says. “Keeps me out of trouble.”

“You _are_ trouble,” Lu Han tells him. “This shouldn’t take too much longer. Music videos go a lot faster when there aren’t eleven divas involved.”

Minseok nods. Lu Han starts to pull away, but Minseok tightens his grip on Lu Han’s shoulders and captures his lips, drinking in the taste he’s gone so long without. Lu Han responds like a switch was flipped inside him and instantly Minseok knows that he’s not the only one who’s missed this, yearned for the fire that ignites when they come together. Arms wrap around his waist and a familiar tongue curls around his, his senses overloaded by something he hasn’t felt in so long.

“Okay, okay,” Lu Han gasps, swearing in Mandarin as he pulls back, eyes hooded and locked on Minseok’s face. “I’m gonna fuck you so hard.”

“ _Please_ ,” Minseok whines, a chill running up his spine at the low growl Lu Han emits. “It’s all I can think about lately. I miss your dick so much.”

“Don’t worry, baozi, you’ll get it.” Lu Han runs a hand down his face, thumb tracing the lips he’d just devoured. “I’ll give it to you real good.”

“I’m gonna roll around in your bed until you join me,” Minseok says. “Naked.”

Lu Han gives a low hum of approval. “That will be the best thing I’ve come home to since I left the dorms. Now I’m gonna leave first, then you wait a couple minutes and leave. Don’t talk to anyone—just go.”

Minseok nods once more, stealing one more kiss before Lu Han slips out of his grasp. Again. Minseok’s fiercely reminded of the last time they were together, the night before Lu Han left them forever. They weren’t dating exactly; there was no chance of a proper relationship with their hectic schedules. They’d always been drawn to each other, incredibly close despite the language barrier. One night when Minseok was at a dead end with one of his school projects and on the verge of a freakout, Lu Han had hugged him so tightly that all Minseok could think about was kissing him.

So he did. Lu Han responded favorably and they never looked back.

His skin still burns when he lets himself into Lu Han’s apartment, trying to look inconspicuous. At this point he couldn’t care if their faces end up on the front of a tabloid; he’s _finally_ going to get what he’s been craving ever since Lu Han left them. Left _him_.

Lu Han’s apartment is sparingly decorated, the product of being too busy to even pick out curtains. Minseok understands that too well. He looks at the pictures of Lu Han’s family and friends, frowning at there being no preserved memories of the last three years until he reaches the bedroom. His own face looks back at him from the nightstand, grinning brightly with his arm around an equally as happy Lu Han.

Minseok doesn’t realize how hard he’s smiling until his cheeks start to hurt. Lu Han has a picture of them _at his bedside_ to look at every night before he goes to sleep! As sad and heartbreaking as their story is, that little detail is enough to make it all worth it.

He’s still grinning a few minutes later when he makes good on his promise to roll around naked in Lu Han’s bed, breathing in that intoxicating scent once again. It’s so comfortable and he’s so exhausted from his emotionally exhausting journey that he falls right to sleep, heart pounding at the anticipation of not being alone when he wakes up.

*

A shiver rouses him, his eyes popping open before they’re ready because he knows exactly where he is and who’s touching him. He smiles as he gravitates toward the weight next to him, drawn toward the scent like a magnet. Lu Han smells fresh from the shower, hair still damp when Minseok reaches up to thread his fingers through it, curling against the body he came to know so well.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Lu Han says, quietly like there’s someone else to hear them. “Should we really be doing this, though?”

“Probably not,” Minseok admits, “but I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good, ’cause you’re right where I want you.”

“Oh yeah?”

Lu Han answers by rolling on top of him, skin to skin and Minseok’s gasp of pleasant surprise is swallowed in Lu Han’s searing kiss. Lu Han hadn’t bothered with clothes after his shower and Minseok’s glad for it, his hands reacquainting themselves with Lu Han’s lean body that trembles under his touch. He hadn’t exactly forgotten how mind-numbingly passionate Lu Han could be, more like pushed it aside in favor of the the physical memories. This is the most pleasant reminder.

“Minseok,” Lu Han breathes against his lips, which curl upward at the cute way Lu Han says his name in his accent. “Since this is just for tonight, will you do something for me?”

“Anything,” Minseok answers. He can’t think of a single thing Lu Han would ask of him that would surpass his limits. Some of the kinkiest things he’s ever done in his life have been with this man.

“Can you…pretend?” Lu Han asks, trailing off as his mouth returns to Minseok’s, kissing him deeply.

“Pretend what?” Minseok presses, a little excited. “Do you want to roleplay or something? I’ll be whoever you want.”

“Be the Minseok who’s in love with me,” Lu Han breathes, and Minseok’s heart drops to his knees. “I know you’re not, and we _can’t_ , but for tonight…let’s pretend.”

“Lu Han,” Minseok says firmly, leaning up on his elbows. “Are you in love with me?”

“I can’t be,” Lu Han replies, pressing his words into Minseok’s cheek, jaw, nose. “I never could be. But you want me, right? I’ll give you that if you give me this.”

It’s a deal Minseok can’t refuse, especially since he’s already lying here beneath Lu Han in his bed. He nods and Lu Han kisses him again, holding him close. Minseok feels a whole new rush and allows it to take him over, touching Lu Han a little gentler, kissing a little sweeter. Their legs entwine and Minseok feels the hardness he’s craved so much pressing against his thigh. Everything about Lu Han’s cock is perfect and everything Minseok would ever want in a man, but he holds off reaching for it. Instead he focuses on Lu Han’s muscles, feeling every single one in Lu Han’s back and upper legs like he’s leaving his mark over every inch of Lu Han’s body that he can reach.

Their kiss ends naturally but Lu Han’s lips don’t leave him, kissing down his jaw and neck while his thigh rocks against Minseok’s own erection. Lu Han touches him like he’d never stopped, dragging his fingers along every bit of flesh that ignites a reaction and Minseok’s so fucking turned on that he’s reversed their positions before he’s actively aware of it, looking down at Lu Han’s flushed face that plainly says he more than approves of this switch.

“You gonna ride me, baozi?” he asks, guiding Minseok’s thighs on either side of his. “You always did like to put on a show for me.”

“Maybe,” Minseok says, feeling ornery as he leans down to nip at Lu Han’s throat. Lu Han isn’t the only one with an impenetrable vault of sensitive spots. Minseok’s breath hitches as Lu Han trembles beneath him, fists gripping the flesh at his waist. He continues down, licking both of Lu Han’s nipples before dipping into his belly button and teasing the trail of hair below.

Minseok only knows the dirty words in Mandarin because of Lu Han, because of situations like this when Lu Han can barely speak his native language let alone another. A string of swear words come out in a higher octave, fingers twisting in Minseok’s hair encouragingly. It’s been so long that Minseok isn’t quite sure what he’s saying anymore, but the plea that spills from his lips is likely “suck me, please” from the context.

Lu Han’s cock tastes the same, hardening even more in Minseok’s mouth as he swallows it down with no teasing. The resulting groan goes straight to Minseok’s own erection, which is likely leaking on Lu Han’s sheets with as hot as he is. He sucks Lu Han in and out like he’s proving a point, and maybe he is. The world is cruel and not everyone has a choice in their paths, but Minseok wants to make it perfectly clear what Lu Han had walked away from.

“ _Get up here_ ,” Lu Han growls, yanking on Minseok’s hair for emphasis. Minseok gets a few more licks in before he climbs up Lu Han’s body, their mouths fusing back together like it’s the only way to breathe. Lu Han’s hands grab onto the backs of Minseok’s thighs, squeezing hard like they’re already fucking, and Minseok wishes they were. Their cocks bump and Lu Han moans into his mouth, vibrating his tongue as Minseok grinds down against him.

“Touch me,” Minseok breathes, using the little Mandarin he remembers. “Put your fingers in me. I wanna feel them deep.”

Lu Han’s next moan is longer, followed by a whine he brings upon himself when he has to lean out of their kiss to reach his nightstand. “You could have had this ready for us, you know.”

“Too busy marking my territory,” Minseok teases him. “It’ll take you weeks to get my scent out of your sheets.”

“That’s if I want to,” Lu Han replies, smirking as he pops the cap on the lube and coats his fingers. “Have you done this with anyone else since me?”

“No,” Minseok lies. “I want only you.”

Lu Han grins. “I believe half of that.”

Before Minseok can plead his case (it was only a couple times and it didn’t mean anything), Lu Han’s finger pushes straight past his rim and Minseok loses his breath. Lu Han knows exactly where to touch him, how to bend his knuckles and the right amount of pressure to use to have Minseok rocking back against him, fucking himself on Lu Han’s single finger that becomes two, then three, moving so fast and hard that Minseok’s bouncing like it’s something else, something Minseok wants more and more with each passing second.

“You’re so hot like this,” Lu Han hisses into his ear, using the Korean words that he’s undoubtedly been putting together in his head for the past couple minutes. “I think about this every time I jerk off, you know. Watching you shudder on top of me is almost enough to get me off right now. Are you ready? You feel ready. You want my dick? You can have it anytime you want, baby. It’s yours.”

“Mine,” Minseok gets out. He likes the way it feels to be possessive over Lu Han, even if it’s just for tonight. Gently, he pushes Lu Han’s hand out of the way and reaches for the condom Lu Han had retrieved along with the lube. Nothing is stopping Lu Han from doing this himself, but he had always liked Minseok to do it before. Lu Han’s entire body arches when Minseok rolls the latex down his length, pinching the tip and giving him a firm stroke before straddling his lap properly.

Sinking down onto Lu Han’s cock feels like coming home after a long tour, Minseok’s body automatically clamping onto it like it doesn’t want to let go either. Lu Han moans again, fingers digging into Minseok’s thighs that rise and fall with each roll of his hips, years of dancing and questionable part-time jobs making it easy to find a rhythm. Lu Han feels so good inside him, filling him perfectly and hitting him just where he wants it. It’s everything he craved for and more, igniting moans of his own when Lu Han thrusts up from below, stealing some of the control.

“Minseok,” Lu Han calls out. His voice sounds so husky and strained that Minseok feels it deep inside him along with Lu Han’s cock. “Feels so good.”

“Yeah,” Minseok agrees. He places his hands on top of Lu Han’s for balance, their fingers lacing together as they work together to fuck Minseok into a moaning mess. His own cock bobs freely, untouched by Lu Han up to this point, but that just makes it better each time Lu Han hits his spot. It’s so close, but not enough to push him over.

A particularly rough thrust shoves Minseok forward, nearly banging Lu Han’s face with his own as he barely catches himself in time. Lu Han plants his feet on the bed and takes over, arms wrapped tightly around Minseok as he pounds into him from below. All Minseok can do is cling to Lu Han, looping his own arms around Lu Han’s shoulders as he presses his mouth to Lu Han’s collarbone, leaving wet kisses along the already sweaty skin.

It feels more intimate than anything they’ve ever done and Minseok supposes this is what Lu Han wanted, escalating the feelings that cloud Minseok’s mind even more than usual. Lifting his head is a struggle, but it’s worth it when he finds Lu Han’s mouth and ends up on the receiving end of a desperate kiss that matches the way Lu Han’s body trembles beneath his.

“Gonna come soon,” Lu Han hisses in Mandarin as he nibbles at Minseok’s bottom lip. “Are you close?”

“No,” Minseok admits, an unexpected wave of sadness tugging at him because once they finish, it’s _over_. “Don’t wanna be done yet.”

Lu Han’s laugh sounds ten times dirtier in the midst of sex. “We can’t fuck forever, baby.”

“I know, but…” Minseok trails off, biting back the rest of his words. He’s pretty sure Lu Han’s request for feelings didn’t include whining about their Romeo and Juliet lives. (Lu Han is Juliet, for the record.)

“I wanted to suck you off anyway,” Lu Han says, the promise warming Minseok up to the idea much more. “You got any energy left to ride me to the finish? It won’t take long at all.”

“Yeah, of course I do,” Minseok replies, a little insulted at the jab to his stamina until Lu Han grins up at him. His face is as pink as his hair used to be, his eyes barely open and his lips plump. Minseok engraves this sight to memory as he leans back up, his thighs protesting every sharp movement he makes.

“Yeah, just like that…” Lu Han moans, slipping into Mandarin again as his whole body starts to shake. Few things are hotter than Lu Han having an orgasm, only made better by his fingers gripping onto Minseok’s thighs hard enough to leave marks. Minseok tightens his muscles to keep Lu Han twitching inside him longer, until the latter is swatting at him to let go.

Reluctantly, Minseok relaxes and flops on top of Lu Han again, rolling to the side as Lu Han presses his mouth anywhere he can reach. Lu Han’s the only person Minseok knows who’s _more_ energized after sex, covering Minseok’s tingling body with kisses and touches like they have all the time in the world. They usually had to rush in the dorms, trying to get a few hours of sleep before the next day’s long schedule and honestly now is no different with Minseok’s five-hour commute back, but it doesn’t seem to stop Lu Han until he’s made contact everywhere he possibly can.

It’s so nice that Minseok almost forgets about Lu Han’s end goal until that beautiful mouth sucks in the tip of his cock, pulling both of his eyes wide open. Lu Han likes to be watched and watch Minseok will, leaning up on his elbows to appreciate the sight of his length disappearing past those lips. Lu Han’s eyes don’t leave his until he’s swallowed the whole thing, the tightness of his throat squeezing a groan out of Minseok.

Both hands find their way into Lu Han’s hair and Lu Han lets himself be guided, though they both know he doesn’t need it. There could be decades between their trysts and Lu Han would remember how Minseok likes it, flicking the knot at the base of the head with his tongue and scraping his teeth just a little bit along the shaft. Minseok wants to burn this scene to memory as well, because nobody blows him like Lu Han; nobody knows his body as well.

“Lu Han,” Minseok gets out, fingers tightening as he tries to hold off. “I’m gonna come.”

Lu Han moves faster, like he’s trying to suck Minseok’s soul out of his dick, and Minseok kind of feels like that’s exactly what happens when he arches and comes so hard he can’t move. He’s barely aware of the weight shifting up his body, the warm arms that cradle him and the lips that press against his cheek.

“Say it,” Lu Han whispers, his voice sounding distant despite being right in Minseok’s ear. “Say it once and I’ll never ask again.”

“I love you,” Minseok says, in Mandarin, and he pretends he doesn’t hear Lu Han’s small sob.

“I’ve always loved my baozi.”

*

Sometimes, Minseok thinks Jongdae could be his best friend. He definitely is when the sun is way too bright for the amount of sleep Minseok didn’t get and the first thing presented to him is a steaming cup of coffee. The second thing is a lecture from Junmyeon, but Minseok isn’t paying much attention to that. He’s confident that Junmyeon’s more focused on the incriminating marks on his neck than the fact that he’s two hours late, anyway.

(“I don’t want to go.”

“You have to. You have to be a star. We both do.”

“We could have been stars together.”

“In another life, maybe.”

“If you start singing Katy Perry, I will smother you with your own pillow.”)

“You look like shit for someone who was clearly up all night having sex,” Baekhyun greets him with a devious expression. Minseok doesn’t have the energy to fight, just hangs his head and waits for Baekhyun to figure it out and rip into him. “You didn’t…did you?”

“Hyung,” Jongin says, approaching Minseok carefully like he’s going to blow up instead of pass out. “Why would you do that to yourself? Don’t you remember how much of a mess you were when he left?”

“I’m fine,” Minseok says, taking a long swig of coffee to wake his ass up. “I’m…I’ll be okay.”

(“Do you still think about me?”

“All the time.”

“Good. Don’t stop thinking about me. That way I’ll never leave you.”

“You already left me.”

“I won’t leave your heart. Just like you won’t leave mine.”)

“You’re supposed to be the smart one,” Baekhyun hisses. “You’re the oldest. You’re the graduate student. What kind of example are you setting, especially for the maknae?”

Minseok turns guilty eyes to Sehun, who’s ignoring everything that’s going on around him because he had given up completely on his ex-member boyfriend. That wound is still fresh and Minseok feels like an asshole for rubbing salt into it with his own irresponsibility.

“It’s over,” Minseok tells them. “We said goodbye. I won’t be seeing him again.”

(“You should sleep, baozi.”

“Don’t wanna. The sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I’ll have to leave.”

“I promise I’ll wake you up in forty-five minutes. That will give us an hour to go again before you absolutely have to leave.”

“Can we just lay together until then?”

“I thought all you wanted was my dick.”

“It was. Now I just want you.”)

He’s not aware of how much he’s shaking until someone steadies him, strong arms wrapping around him and pulling him close to a hard, muscled body. Yixing whispers for him to let it out and Minseok breaks down, the lack of sleep and surplus of heartbreak making his tears flow more freely, both hands clinging weakly to Yixing’s shirt. Another weight presses against his back—Jongdae—and Minseok cries until there’s nothing left, the resentment and unfairness soaked up by the only subunit members he still has.

“Feel better?” Jongdae asks into his hair, and Minseok nods.

It’s with a clear mind and an elastic heart that Minseok presses through the rest of their tour, his schoolwork, and his life. Time heals the pain but doesn’t fade the memories, which resurface vividly every time he sees Lu Han’s face on a display screen, hears his voice in a recording, or just stops to think about him. Minseok sings and dances and fanservices because he loves it, because he’s good at it, because he knows that somewhere Lu Han is cheering him on just the same, accepting the fate they both made for themselves instead of for each other.

(“Do you still want to open a coffee shop when you retire?”

“Maybe. I don’t know anymore. The future is so uncertain.”

“Beijing is a good market for coffee.”

“So is Seoul.”

“Maybe they’ll have invented teleportation by then.”

“If they do, you’ll be the first person I teleport to.”

“Until then, I will just watch you from here.”)

_Goodbye._

*

The next time Minseok gets stressed, he takes a deep breath…and smiles.


End file.
